Vehicle construction



Dec. 8, 1936. N LARSEN v 2,063,388 l VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb' 1:5, 195e gj r27 /25 y Patented Dec..A 8, 1936 UNITED t STATES 'VEHICLE CONSTRUCTION Neil P. Larsen, Cleveland, Ohio, assigner to American Coach & Body Company, Cleveland, lOhio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 13, 1936, Serial No. 63,755

'a claims. (ci. zes-s4) This invention relates to vehicles and espe-v cially to an improvement in body constructions for 4motor vehicles to facilitate their use by public utility companies and the like.

Hitherto, several types of body constructions have been adopted for'use by public utility companics, but in many instancesA they have been constructed by adding a truck or van body to a motor vehicle chassis, which was previously provided with a more or less standard cab construction. Such vehicles are used to provide transportation for workmen, as well as for the transportation of tools and supplies. The cabs .have not been large enough to hold all of the workmen and consequently it has been necessary for them to ride in the van Where there is scant protection from the wind and temperature. To increase the size of cab to accommodate all of .the Workmen is not suilicient, because in case of serious accident they would be unable to leave 'the cab with suillcient rapidity to avoid injury.

At the present time, the area covered by the service vehicles of public utility companies is constantly being increased and hence the time during which the workmen are being transported from place to place is also increased. This, of course, increases the discomfort and danger of 1such vehicles to the workmen. `Likewise, while the present bodies have been built so that tools and equipment are readily accessible, nevertheless they are more or less inconveniently located. Workmen riding in the cab have to leave the vehicle in order to secure tools and other equipment carried by the vehicle, and while in some instances, such inaccessibility is of little matter, nevertheless in emergencies, it is highly desirable that the workmen be able to secure tools and equipment as quickly as possible.

A more specific object of the present invention is to so construct a motor vehicle, as to increase the comfort to the occupants thereof, and to decrease the liability of injury to the person oroccupants if an accident should occur. A further object of the invention is to provide a vehicle body construction in which the tools and equipment are 'more readily accessible to workmen driving or riding in the cab of the vehicle.

Cther objects of the present invention will become more -apparent from the following description, reference being had to a preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrated in the drawing. 'Ihe novel features of the invention will be more fully set forth in the claims.

Referring now to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a planv view ofa motor vehicle provided with my iinproved body construction, certain portions of the body being broken as to more clearly illustrate the internal construction thereof; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the vehicle illustrated in Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a transverse section, the plane of the section being indicated by the lines 3-3 on Fig..2 and Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of th vehicle illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3.

My improved body construction isV shown on the drawing as incorporated in a motor vehicle having the usual chassis at l0, supported by suitable wheels |2. The vehicle as shown is driven by the usual motor, not shown, but enclosed by a suitable hood I4 at the forward end of the vehicle. To the rear of the motor unit, or over it, I mount on the chassis l0, a cab compartment 20, which is provided with-a pair of seats 2| and 22, one disposed to the rear of the other.

From an inspection of Fig. 1, it will be noted vthat the left hand side of the cab is closed by a wall 25 provided with the usual window 26. The

right hand side of the cab is provided with a door 21 slightly deeper than the seat 2| and .preferably hinged at itsv front end as at 28 to a suitable vertical body frame member so as to provideaccess to both the seats 2| and 22.v The back support of the front seat 2| is of less width than the cab, thereby providing a passageway 29 between it in the door 21 so as to enable workmen to quickly pass to or from the seat 2| through the door 21.

The seat 22 is located to the rear of the seat 2| and is spaced a suicient distance therebeyond to provide a passageway 3|) between it and the front seat 2|. In the preferred form, the seat- 22;- is of sufcient width to accommodate two workmen but nevertheless does not extend the full width of the cab stopping short of the cab wall 25 thus providing a passageway 32 which provides access between the cab and body through the opening 39 inthe wall 31. These seats, therefore, are arranged in a staggered relationship, as shown in Fig. l, the front'seat having one end disposed closely adjacent the left wall of the body and the rear seat having one end disposed closely adjacent the right hand wall of the body, leaving connecting passageways 29, 3|) and 32, between such seats and the opposite body walls.

Storage space for supplies and the like is provided at the rear of the cab, b y a suitable body or storage compartment or enclosure 35 having front end of this bodv portion is closed by the rear wall 31 of the cab while the rear of the storage compartment 35 is open to provide access thereto from the rear of the vehicle. To facilitate the accessibility of tools and supplies to the workmen, I provide a cab with a door 40 pivoted as vat ll to a suitable upright vehicle frame member, and adapted to swing outwardly relative to the cab into the body portion 35, thus, workmen from either seat 2| or 22 may readily pass between the cab and the storage compartment 35 and leave or enter the cab from the rear of the vehicle.

This-seating and fcab arrangement [provides a body having a maximum degree of safety. It will be noted that as both the doors 21 and Il open outwardly relative to the cab 2li, and as both are hinged or. pivotally connected to the body at the corners of the cab, access to the cab may be had, for practical purposes, from either side, or from the front or rear of. the vehicle. Thus, in case of an accident which might jam the door 21, the occupants may leave the cab through the door 4l, and likewise should the body vcompartment 35 of the truck be damaged so that it' would be dangerous to leave the truck that way, the door 21 may be utilized for the occupants of either the cab or the storage compartment.

In normal use of the vehicle, seats 2| and 22 provide the vehicle with sulcient seating capacity to accommodate the necessary workmen. However, occasional demands are made which require a greater' number of workmen than can be accommodated by such seats, and in such instances, the storage compartment may be pro vided with suitably folding seats 50. Such seats are generally indicated in the drawing as being mounted in the passageway 32 and lin the storage compartment 35. The doors 4U and 21 then provide an exit from the truck for occupants o! such seats. .Y

From the foregoing description, it will be noted that I have so arranged my vehicle as to make the tool and storage compartments readily accessible to the workmen from the cab without necessitating their leaving the truck and entering the tool compartments from the rear of the truck and I have provided a vehicle body construction, which increases the comfort and safety of the occupants thereof.

I claim:-

y1. A vehicle body comprising a unitary structure having a partition therein dividing it into a closed cab compartment, and an open storage compartment, the cab compartment having a drivers seat extending from one side thereof and a second seat extending from the opposite side thereof, the body having a door on'one side thereof providing a common entrance to both seats, and the partition having a door therein for providing a passageway between each of the seats and the storage compartment.

2. A-vehicle body having a partition therein dividing it into a closed cab compartment and an open storage compartment, there being a drivers seat extending from one side -of the cab and terminating short of the other side, and there being a second seat extending from the last named side and terminating short of the first mentioned side, and being spaced from the drivers seat and providing a Z-shaped passageway Within the cab, the cab having a d/oor in one side wall ailording a common entrance for both seats, and the partition having a door near the end of the rear seat, whereby thel occupants in the cab compartment may leave at either one of two substantially diagonally opposite corners.

3. A vehicle body having a transversely extending partition therein dividing it into a closed cab compartment and a storage compartment, the cab compartment having a front seat extending from one side wall and having a rear seat extending from the opposite wall, the last' named wall having a. door therein for providing access to each seat, and the'partition having a door therein for providing a passageway from each seat in the cab to the storage compartment. Y

NEIL P. LARSEN. 

